Digital Hackers' Memories

"It's just a data avatar, so 'factory reset' doesn't have much of an impact on me."

Smiling, Chen Ze told the fox demon X that he had just chosen to destroy and restart his data avatar, deleting all the data existing in this avatar.

In this way, even if someone accesses the Shindai Corporation's server, they will not be able to retrieve any useful information about Chen Ze.

Of course, simply deleting your own avatar will inevitably leave some traces.

At the very least, the security personnel at Shindai could trace Chen Ze's relay server, but that was all.

"It's just a pity about the 'skin' that Sister Date gave me. Actually, I quite like the 'Zhao Zilong of Changbanpo' character."

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"Digimon?"

In a corner that Chen Ze didn't notice, a data entity that was also considered "abnormal" by the firewall program happened to witness him transforming into Agumon.

"No, he's human!"

"Data body," or rather, Aiba Takumi said confidently to himself.

As the "strongest detective in Nakano, Kyoko Kuremi" and the "Hollow Throne Alphamon's" personal assistant, Takumi Aiba, although his mental data was devoured by the Infiltrators, also gained the ability to see the essence of the data.

Especially after this period of experience, Takumi realized one thing: this world is never short of disasters and miracles.

Putting aside other things, no normal person could possibly be like me, freely traversing between the online and real worlds, becoming a "cyber detective" trusted by both humans and Digimon.

"This human who can transform into a Digimon seems to have some similarities to me?"

A rare sense of curiosity arose in his heart, so Takumi allowed the firewall program to banish him without using the special ability of the "data body" to travel back to the real world.

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Mumi Apricot

A detective agency in Nakano, Tokyo, Japan.

Where's Takumi?

Kyoko Mukai looked sadly at the bulletin board filled with tasks, feeling that her headache tendency seemed to be getting worse.

"He disappeared at this time when there were so many tasks that had not yet been completed."

As if watching the gleaming silver slip through her fingers, Mukai Kyoko listlessly slumped back onto the table, a rare look of pain on her face.

"Since Takumi took the initiative to ask for a 'vacation,' it's good to let him relax a bit."

Alphamon, the Royal Knight Counter Force residing within Anzu Mumi's body and known as the "Lone Hermit" by the other Royal Knights, spoke up at the opportune moment.

“Ever since ‘we’ rescued him, he has been trying to find out the truth behind the Kamishiro Corporation. I’m really afraid that one day he will break down.”

Rolling her eyes helplessly, Mukai Kyoko felt that Alphamon's words were somewhat evasive, as if he was hiding something from her.

“I think if he drank less of the ‘coffee’ you make, he would definitely be in better shape than he is now.”

I want to emphasize the word "coffee." Even though she shared a body with Alphamon for eight years, Kyoko Umi still refused to call the dark drink he made "coffee."

"My cooking skills are actually quite good."

This was already the umpteenth time Alphamon had been criticized for his cooking skills by Kyoko Mukai, but he still defended himself with a rather aggrieved expression.

"You mean 'good' because of its lethal effect, right?"

Kyoko Murami hadn't forgotten the scene of Takumi and the others collapsing to the ground and falling into a coma after drinking that "coffee".

Especially Takumi, who is a true data body, theoretically possessing a special physique that is not afraid of any physical damage.

However, despite his strong constitution, he completely lost consciousness less than a second after drinking that "coffee".

"Fine, as long as you don't use my body to try your dark drinks."

At this point, Kyoko Murami seemed to have returned to eight years ago, to the time when Alphamon had just crossed over from the Digital World.

............................................................................................................

Back then, "Kyoko Mumi" was still Kyoko Mumi, a homebody who became a detective not voluntarily, but to make a living.

Unlike the now renowned strongest detective in Nakano, Kyoko Kuremi became a detective back then simply to make it easier to take on bounty missions from the Metropolitan Police Department and earn some pocket money.

Because of this, Kyoko Mukai occasionally takes on requests from nearby residents, usually small cases like finding lost cats or dogs.

It wasn't until one day, out of curiosity, that Kyoko Kuroi took on a case involving Rie Kishibe, the secretary to the president of Kamishiro Corporation, which led to the accident that changed her life.

Kyoko Mukai swore that it was the only time in all her time as a detective that she had taken on a case out of "curiosity" rather than "money," and that resulted in an unpredictable accident.

In fact, Kyoko Kuroi's original mission was to investigate the truth behind the "suicide of the chairman of Kamishiro Corporation" and, incidentally, find out the whereabouts of the first batch of EDEN test subjects.

However, to Kyoko's surprise, after her investigation, she found that all the suspicions were focused on Rie Kishibe.

Whether it's the suicide of the chairman of the Kamishiro Corporation or the origin of EDEN technology, both are inextricably linked to that arrogant and talented woman.

More importantly, as the investigation progressed, Rie Kishibe clearly became aware of Kyoko Kuremi's presence, so she deliberately led her to a mysterious area in the EDEN space.

It was there that Kyoko Kuromi and Rie Kishibe had their first and only real "confrontation".

"If I remember correctly, 'you' arrived around that time!"

In order to investigate what broke down the barrier between the digital world and the human world, and the true reason for the emergence of the Invaders.

Alphamon and SwordGoldmon, having traveled through time and space, were forced to relinquish some of their power, allowing only a small amount of their mental data to descend into the EDEN space.

However, to the two royal knights' surprise, the invaders arrived at the EDEN network first and appeared right in front of Kyoko Kuroi and Rie Kishibe.

As expected, the first Invader to appear in the human world devoured the mental data of two humans, and used this to guide more Invaders to appear in the EDEN network.

"Yes, to facilitate future actions, I chose to temporarily borrow your body at that time."

Alphamon, recalling its first arrival, didn't know whether to be glad about its choice or frustrated by the Invader's unpredictable appearances.

This was both to facilitate his future actions in the human world and to help him overcome his initial period of weakness...

Alphamon did not choose to regress to its juvenile state, but instead took over the data remains and physical body of Kyoko Kuromi, appearing in the real world as a human.

As a being that descended alongside Alphamon, Swordmon made the same choice, taking over Rie Kishibe's mental remains and physical body.

"But you are ultimately different from the Sword Emperor Beast..."

If SwordEmperormon's method of "erasing" Rie Kishibe's existence and turning her memory data into its own is one of the ways it does, then Alphamon's approach is relatively gentler.

Alphamon did not completely devour Kyoko's mental data; instead, it tried to maintain her will through some kind of "coexistence."

In fact, this is also why AlphaBeast has rarely logged into EDEN space in the past eight years.

In order to "revive" Kyoko Kurumi, Alphamon kept gathering information about her from her family and friends, piecing together a complete picture of "Kyoko Kurumi".

From childhood to adulthood, from personality to preferences...

As Alphamon learned more and more about "Kyoko Kurumi," the real Kyoko Kurumi reconstructed her own spiritual body using the remaining data fragments.

The only regret is that no matter how much Alphamon tries to improve, some of Kyoko's memory data is still missing.

This resulted in Kyoko Mukai regaining some initial consciousness, but also forgetting a significant portion of her memories, and even the time she could control her body each day was strictly limited.

"Thank you, Alphamon."

Slowly closing her eyes, Kyoko Murami, her spirit gradually waning, said this.

"Thank you for saving me, and thank you for your companionship over the past eight years."

Chapter Thirty-Eight: The First Children

"Thank you?"

After Kyoko's spiritual body completely fell into a deep sleep, "Kyoko," dominated by Alphamon, once again regained her usual coldness and aloofness.

"I should be the one saying 'thank you,' Anzu."

In a daze, Alpha Beast recalled the bits and pieces of the past eight years once again.

If saving Kyoko Kuroi at the beginning was merely out of Alphamon's goodwill, a different approach from that of the Virus-type SwordEmperormon.

Alphamon's subsequent interactions with Kyoko Kuroi made him realize that perhaps humans were not the "extremely evil" beings he had imagined.

Regardless of whether the appearance of the Invaders is related to humanity, and regardless of how the barrier between the Digital World and the Human World cracked...

Alphamon didn't sense any real malice from Kyoko Kuroi.

In contrast, it is the SwordEmperormon, who has been trying to completely break down the barriers between the two worlds, that makes the Digital World's invasion and assimilation of the human world seem more "evil".

Of course, Alphamon knew that it was just SwordEmperormon saving the Digital World in its own way.

Alphamon, a fellow member of the Royal Knights and also wanting to save the Digital World, knew that the other's actions might be wrong, but also knew that he had no reason or position to stop the other.

Having lived in the human world for eight years, Alphamon had long since come to appreciate the kindness of humans.

Therefore, Alphamon cannot do what Swordmon does, ignoring these real humans and only wanting the Digital World and Digimon to continue and survive.

However, Alphamon also cannot allow the human EDEN network to destroy the Digital World for its own selfish reasons.

Therefore, in the past eight years, in addition to reconstructing Kyoko Kuroi's mental data, Alphamon has also been searching for a way to make the two worlds coexist peacefully.

"Perhaps when I find the truth behind the 'Eroders,' I'll be able to stop all of this from happening?"

Even Alphamon itself didn't believe its own words, but it couldn't find any other way to carry out "self-justice" except by itself.

Unable to stop the Sword Emperor Beast's actions, nor could they stand idly by and watch the human world be destroyed...

All Alphamon can do is find a truly win-win solution before things get out of hand.

Fortunately, Alphamon's efforts over the past eight years have not been entirely in vain; at least it has found a link that can connect the two worlds simultaneously—Takumi Aiba.

Although Takumi is nominally just Kyoko's assistant and a third-rate cyber detective.

However, Alphamon invested just as much effort in her as Anzu.

To outsiders, and even to Takumi himself, he was just a "lucky guy" who accidentally encountered an eroder, resulting in the separation of his mind and body but miraculously surviving.

However, in Alphamon's eyes, Takumi's identity is far more complex than it appears.

The separation of body and mind does not grant a person the ability to travel between two worlds, nor does it give Takumi the potential to control any Digimon.

Especially when Alphamon investigates a certain truth from eight years ago, it is almost certain that Takumi has another identity—one of the original five.

It is said that in the early stages when EDEN technology was not yet perfect, the Kamishiro Corporation found five children who were most compatible with the Digital World and sent them into that unfamiliar world.

Although Alphamon has not yet investigated what the Kamishiro Corporation did, it knows clearly that the Invaders and the rift in the Digital World appeared at that point in time.

At the same time, EDEN technology, which is based on the analog digital world, also made explosive progress.

Even the suicide of the former chairman of the Kamishiro Corporation, and the arrival of myself and the Sword Emperor Beast, all started from that time.

It can be said that the experiment eight years ago is the source of all this today, and the truth that humans and Digimon must face together.

"If it's that child, he can definitely save two worlds."

Whispering softly, Alphamon wasn't afraid of being enemies with the other Royal Knights or even Yggdrasil; it was just a little worried about whether Takumi could shoulder such a heavy responsibility.

Ultimately, Takumi is indeed a very good person and extremely hardworking, a true model worker and a pushover.

But the other party is ultimately just a high school student who hasn't graduated yet. It's a bit too cruel to put the burden of saving the world on his shoulders without his consent.

However, Alphamon had also witnessed Takumi's growth during this time.

From a clueless online detective assistant to a web detective capable of handling both human and Digimon commissions independently.

From running errands to fighting hacker groups, and sometimes even helping Digimon find jobs in the human world...

Takumi's growth is visible to the naked eye. Even Alphamon himself took a full eight years to reach the level Takumi has reached now.

"If you are truly the 'savior' chosen by the world, then until you truly grow up, I will protect you from the wind and rain!"

A cold, murderous glint flashed in his eyes as Alphamon, now inhabiting Kyoko Mukai's body, muttered to himself.

Alphamon knew that since even it could find out the identities of the "original five", then there was no reason why Swordmon, who was the "former president's secretary of Kamishiro Corporation", would not know Takumi's background.

Alphamon even suspected that the "Eroder Incident" that caused Takumi's body and mind to split was very likely deliberately arranged by SwordEmperormon.

Fortunately, he discovered it in time and, at the critical moment when Takumi was about to be devoured by the invaders, he interfered with the operation of the EDEN network, allowing him to escape successfully.

The only thing that surprised Alphamon throughout the entire process was that Takumi's spiritual body was able to travel from EDEN into the real world after leaving his physical body.

squeak...

After a brief moment of thought, Alphamon got up, pushed aside the table and chair in front of him, and decided to go check out the consultation room outside the detective agency.

“Mikagura Mirei, she should know something.”

Since his last encounter with the mysterious woman who claimed to be an "observer of parallel universes," Alphamon discovered that she had brazenly set up a consultation room on Broadway in Nakano Street, right at the exit of the detective agency.

While Alphamon felt somewhat helpless about this, he was ultimately relieved.